Former Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan
on New Media, Reno Omokri, has insisted that the reference to Osinbajo as
‘Coordinator’ is wrong and a demotion.
In an article on Saturday titled, ‘A Vice President Becomes
a Coordinating Son’, Omokri made reference to the content of President
Muhammadu Buhari’s letter he sent to the legislature ahead of his medical trip
to London.
The letter read by President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki,
at the plenary on Tuesday,says: “In compliance with Section 145 (1) of the
1999 Constitution (as amended), I wish to inform the distinguished Senate that
I will be away for a scheduled medical follow-up with my doctors in London. The
length of my stay will be determined by the doctor’s advice.
“While I am away, the Vice President will coordinate the
activities of the government. Please accept, the distinguished Senate
President, the assurances of my highest consideration.”
The letter continues to generate debate, with many
wondering why Buhari did not clearly refer to Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, as
Acting President.
In a part of the article, Reno Omokri said “Speaking of the
economy, the last time Nigeria had a Coordinator was in 2011 when President
Goodluck Jonathan nominated Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as a minister and upon
her confirmation named her the Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
“How sad that in 2017, six years after that event, Nigeria
has now got her second Coordinator and no, it is not another minister. It is no
less a personality than the incumbent Vice President who has been reduced, in
the estimation of his boss, from an acting President to a Coordinator.
“In his first letter to the Senate on February 10, 2017,
before going on medical vacation, President Buhari had used the correct
nomenclature to describe the role that would be played by the Vice President,
Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
“In the said letter, the Vice President was to ‘act’ on his
behalf.
“How very strange that in his second letter to the Senate on
May 7, 2017, before going to see his London doctors, President Buhari curiously
changed the wordings of his letter and named the Vice President as someone who
would “coordinate’ rather than ‘act’!
“And to those who are saying that the nomenclature does not
matter, go home and call your father ‘my mother’s husband’ and after he has
slapped you back into reality come back here and realize that if it is not
panadol it is not the same thing as panadol.
“Vice President Osinbajo did a very good job the last time
he was acting President and as such no one who loves Nigeria should hesitate to
accord him the respect he has earned even though by reason of his peculiar
situation he cannot complain about this shabby treatment meted out on him for
fear of playing into the hands of the ‘Cabal’.”
By Wale Odunsi
